IN TOUCH DAILY DEVOTIONAL 20 APRIL 2024 BY DR. CHARLES STANLEY, SATURDAY MESSAGE
TOPIC: Soil Matters
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: Matthew 13:1-9
1 That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea.
2 And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.
3 And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow;
4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.
5 “Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil.
6 “But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7 “Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out.
8 “And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.
9 “He who has ears, let him hear.”
TODAY’S MESSAGE
When teaching the crowds, the Lord often used parables, which were hard to understand in the moment. Yet now that we have the full revelation of God, these short stories serve as wonderful examples of what it means to live a life of faith.
One parable Jesus told was about a farmer planting seeds that fell in different places: on a path, in shallow soil, among thorns, and on fertile ground. He ended the story with, “The one who has ears, let him hear” (Matt. 13:9). Afterward, the disciples asked Jesus why He chose to teach this way, and He explained that not everyone was willing to hear spiritual truth. But He told the Twelve, “Blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear” (Matthew 13:16). As believers, we are blessed in the same way.
However, learning how to listen to (and act upon) what we hear from the Lord takes time and practice; it’s not a process one can rush through. The fertile soil that Jesus mentions in verse 8 is a heart prepared to hear and respond to His Word (Matthew 13:23). By spending time in prayer and scriptural meditation, we can “rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us” (Hebrews 12:1). In that way, we can become even better, more attuned listeners. What is one thing you can do today to prepare your heart to receive God’s Word?
Bible in One Year: 1 Kings 18-19
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